A 33-year-old man has been jailed for 20 weeks after he fled from a burglary in a stolen car while banned from driving,

Thomas Morgan, of Montgomery Avenue, Lowestoft, pleaded guilty to three offences following a burglary on Sunday, April 19.

In the early hours of that day, Mr Morgan broke into a business premises on Whapload Road by smashing a window, and stole the keys to a silver Smart car.

The car was discovered later that day at around 3pm, abandoned in Little Dunham, near Swaffham in Norfolk, appearing to have been damaged in a crash.

Following CCTV enquiries, Mr Morgan was arrested on Thursday, May 14, when during an interview with detectives he admitted the burglary and stealing the car and driving it to Little Dunham despite being a disqualified driver.

Detective inspector Matt Adams, of Norfolk police’s East CID, said: “Crimes such as these affect businesses and customers alike, but in this case Morgan also put the safety of other road users at risk, by embarking on a journey of over 50 miles whilst banned from the roads.

“Thanks to some efficient detective work and Morgan’s early guilty plea, this matter has been resolved relatively quickly and the offender has been suitably punished.

“When sentencing Morgan, the magistrates cited his previous six convictions of driving while disqualified and therefore his low compliance with court orders, which they deemed made these latest offences serious enough to warrant an immediate prison term.”

Appearing before Norwich Magistrates’ Court on Friday, May 15, Mr Morgan pleaded guilty to charges of burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and driving while disqualified.

He was sentenced to 20 weeks imprisonment and was disqualified from driving for an additional 12 months, with an extension period of 10 weeks - a ban of 62 weeks in total.